Maybe I haven’t actually talked about Yukina as much as I feel like I have but I feel like I have a lot . . . and trust me there’d be so much more if I didn’t try to stop myself. If anyone thinks she’s my best girl I. Can’t blame you at all dkfjdjsj she’s close enough

Anyway I still get kinda miffed when I hear “Yukina still only cares about music after all” and I couldn’t quite put it into words last time I talked about this, but her My Design, My Texture card eps really drive the point home. Music to Yukina is not just music. It’s everything. She sees it everywhere, she lives and breathes it, it’s her way of expressing herself. In her own words, “Music is born from emotion. And emotion is developed from experience,” and so “No matter the hobby, I can find enjoyment through a connection with music.” So I mean sure, you could say it’s the only thing she cares about. That’s like saying she only cares about . . . everything she experiences. Even though she seems like she’d be somewhat cut off from the world she’s really always connected in her own way and I think that’s wonderful. Instead of boxing her in, music acts as a bridge to . . . infinite possibility, really. The power she holds . . .

And yeah look, I know there’s such a thing as Character Development, she wasn’t like that before etc—but that’s the thing. She was like that before, in the beginning. Then she changed, and when she did the problem wasn’t exactly that she started fixating too much on music per se. Rather, she tried to cast aside everything but music without fully understanding that music encompassed everything, and that the two working in tandem made her more compassionate, more curious and ultimately a better musician and person. It wasn’t an either/or situation, she just thought it was. So music stopped being enjoyable (bc of her father too of course) and she had to rediscover what it meant to her. Naturally it’s not gonna be exactly the same now as before, it’s gonna be deeper and coloured by experience and maturity and the knowledge of what it’s like to lose something you love—but that’s how growth should be. I guess what I’m trying to say is it’s not as simple as getting from Point A to Point B but idk if I’m making any sense

Edit: No I really wasn’t WHAT I’M TRYING TO SAY is that character development is more than just not having something and then gaining it. Growth isn’t linear and often involves forgetting and relearning and going in circles and THEREFORE. BS1 Yukina wasn’t an awful uncaring person she was just a desperate teenager who was really not having a good time and it brought out the worst in her

Yukina changed bc she tried to cling to the past and rely on her own questionable decisions when her life lost its certainty. On the surface it looks like she then goes through the standard “cold stoic character learns to warm up to people and be kind” arc but that’s bc her attempts to hold on to stability at all costs (“I have to sing. I have to sing and make it to Future World Fes bc there’s nothing else I can do, and I can’t not know what to do”) get to a point where she winds up treating the people around her terribly. That inability to accept the uncertain is, I think, her actual major flaw, rather than “Oh she was just a heartless jerk who only cared about music.” Idk it goes back to the way Bandori uses character tropes as a springboard to get into more complex writing and I love it so much

Not exactly related but AiAi mentioning the NY event during the 4th anni stream put such a huge smile on my face and I replayed that part too many times . . . She was like, “Yukina worked as a shrine maiden with Arisa, can you believe that? It’s not something you’d ever think of but she did it!!” She looked so proud help me